HEAVY IS THE HEAD: Genosha Mission

[astonishing_xmods]

WHO: Wolverine, Storm, and those who volunteered for the mission.
WHAT: It's time to meet the guy in the helmet and attempt to talk him out of starting WWIII
WHERE: The shores of Genosha, then onto Magneto's palace.
WHEN: Saturday Evening to Sunday Morning
WARNING(S): Could get violent.

It had been a long flight, with Storm's powers managing to create electric fields that jammed most tracking systems, but still had to park the Blackbird itself well away from the Genoshan coast, with a small jet boat being taken the rest of the way. It was a silent wonder as to how they had managed to get this close without alerting any of the local authorities, but Logan assured the team his man on the inside had them taken care of. They just had to put their faith in him. Which, putting faith in Wolverine was one thing, but in a total stranger? That was a bit more difficult to fathom...

Once the team arrived on a well protected cove, the boat was hidden under practical camouflage (as using Storm's powers to hide it in fog would just trip alarms. No-Girl, Martha, was left with the ship to shield it psychically if needed, and send a long range alert to Cerebro if something went wrong.

Wolverine took them up a steep, rocky hill, and to one of the walls of Genosha's government sanctums, the very one that house Magneto's steel palace, and they waited for their contact to arrive...

Comments

BREAKING INTO THE CITY

[astonishing_xmods]

It won't be much longer before Logan's contact arrives, apparently with a VIP in tow that will help convince Magneto not to go to war... The waiting was the hard part, but once the contact showed up, the mission could continue

[[ This is the last chance for participants to mingle before Logan's contact shows up. ]]

(Hope I'm doing this right) Before the contact arrives

[aquawayfinder]

Aqua was in her armor and quiet as they flew, as she always was. Once they were on the boat, her armor was called back into the gem. She was available to anyone if they needed her from the moment they got off of the Blackbird. She would stand ready once they came to the area where they will wait. She kept her eyes open for any danger, and any student who might need her assistance.

[kickstart_my_heart]

"You know, even with all that cloud cover, there's still a kind of... dark beauty, to the ocean at night, don't you think?" Bridget had been staring out to the horizon, seeing little specks of light. Other boats, he assumed, doing late night fishing.

[aquawayfinder]

She nodded. "To those with the eyes to see it and the heart to appreciate, even the darkest roads holds beauty, even the darkest hours hold light." She had confidence they would get through this. They had to. And she would do all she could to get all these children home safe... to assure that home would be safe.

Before the contact arrived

[eileaneathompson]

Eli had spun off a half dozen clones as soon as they hit the ground, and she sat on the ground once they stopped somewhere, at the center of them, flicking her awareness from clone to clone to clone until someone needed her.

[endurancepoint]

Alex watched Eli and her clones for a few minutes, trying to see if he could tell the difference between them. (He couldn't. Even their probabilities looked the same for the most part.) But as he watched, he noticed one probability in particular would flare in first one clone, then another. He couldn't get a good look at the probability though, because it wasn't one he was familiar with and it kept bouncing from clone to clone to clone.

"What's the max you can create?" he asked when she was focusing on the clone standing closest to him. "Just for reference sake."

[eileaneathompson]

Her focus shifted to that clone. "I'm not sure, I don't know what would be a limit, so I go until I don't need any more, or I get tired. But after a while, what's the point? I can't control ones I can't focus on. Many clones, one brain." And....then she realized she was talking to a male, gasped the smallest bit and flushed CRIMSON. It was easier with a clone than as her self directly, and she was aware that made no sense, but there it was.

Before the contact!

[droppedbucket]

[Kisume had been quiet as usual, no pacing or looking out the window. Being rather serious if only because of how important this was. It didn't mean that there were nerves at work. It was easier to hide it and not upset others if she was still.

One they reached land and stopped, the feral stretched out, much like a cat would and paced a little bit. It wouldn't take long before she would sit and watch people and the sky. If anything- it was to try and save some energy and focus.]

OTA, before contact arrives

[martyrerkomplex]

[She'd been on missions before -- small ones, simple ones, ones that might have turned bad, but certainly weren't meant to be anything special. Honestly, the biggest thing she'd ever been involved with was the time she and the other quarantined students had snuck out, and, well...]

[That could have gone better.]

[Krista's honestly a little surprised when they make it safely out of US airpace, and all the way to Genosha. She's on pins and needles, halfway expecting to be attacked at any moment while they're hiding the ship, while they're climbing up the steep rocks, while they stand out waiting...]

[If they do, what's she going to do? Just... do her best to make them not want to fight her?]

[She takes a breath, trying to calm her emotions. It shouldn't be too much more waiting...]

Re: OTA, before contact arrives

[eileaneathompson]

One of Eli's clones moved to stand beside Krista, to offer support. Eli focused on that one. "We'll get through this," she said softly, hoping it was true.

[martyrerkomplex]

Immediately, Krista switched on her most reassuring smile.

"Of course we will."

[droppedbucket]

[It takes a moment but the little feral slowly makes her way over and stands up, putting a hand lightly on Krista's arm.]

You okay? It okay, not know what come next.

[Kisume is at least offering a little bit of optimism.]

[martyrerkomplex]

[Gently, Krista sets her hand on the top of Kisume's head. She should at least try to be a little bit of a comfort...]

I know. We'll all do our best to help each other from here on out, right?

OTA

[niepokonany]

[I - on the Blackbird, en route]

[He sleeps, now and then.]

[He knows he should be resting up for the mission, but it's a little hard to, all things considered.]

[When he's awake on the trip, he's got his cheerful persona firmly on -- teasing and joking, telling ridiculous stories, bothering anyone who looks like they're worrying too much with snacks and his odd sense of humor.]

[There are moments, though, when he draws more into himself -- sitting by the window, waiting, curled up in his seat and worrying at the beads of his rosary.]

[B - In Genosha, waiting for the contact]

[There are more kids on this mission than he'd like, honestly. He trusts that Emma knew what she was doing, but God, is this any kind of a place for them?]

[He doesn't complain, though -- they're here now, and they're going to do what they have to. What other choice do they have?]

[He tries not to fidget too much, as they wait for this mysterious contact of Logan's to turn up, tries to focus on all the things he has to go back to -- all the reasons they have to succeed here today.]

[Failure is just not going to be an option. That's all there is to it.]

b

[kickstart_my_heart]

So... I have to admit, I don't know a whole lot about the internal workings of Genosha, only what's written in intelligence reports. But I hear tell the princess actually went to the Institute? That's kind of wild, right?

[niepokonany]

Ha... Y-Yeah, crazy! That was years ago, though, right?

[Feliks has a surprisingly terrible poker face under normal circumstances, for someone who does well on infiltration missions and who spent years of his life in obstinate denial.]

[du_bist_also_haesslich]

A single white dove fluttered out over the hill -- a single white dove that may or may not have old dried blood on its wing (not the dove's own blood, of course). It came to rest on a tree above the group and stared down at them.

What did this dove signal? Or...was it the contact?

An older gentleman, wearing a long coat, tall boots, and oxblood leather gloves, finally stepped into view. A handful of doves flew out around him. A dark-haired woman who looked the same age stood near him.

"Ah, there you all are," he said in a thick German accent, "I was worried something had happened. You know how people get murdered or kidnapped, or their ships sunk. The usual!"

The single bloodstained dove landed on his shoulder. Siegfried Jäger, better known as Medic, better known as a person with very questionable ethics. But here he was with Gabrielle Haller. And he was their best chance to get in.

[imah]

"Your penchant for theatrics, Herr Jäger, is really starting to make me question the effectiveness of what's supposed to be a stealth mission," Gabby quipped behind him as she stepped up to his side.

When she looked over to Logan and Storm, however, her look took on a more serious worry. There was no mistaking it... the majority of the infiltration team were children. "Charles, you'd better be right about this...," she whispered to herself.

"Well, Logan, let's get your team in. Medic here will be your guide. I'll be the one to talk to Erik, once we're there."

[eileaneathompson]

Eli's clones straightened when the people arrived. She left one close to Feliks, one close to Krista, and let one slide close to the new woman who seemed in charge, the rest sticking with teachers she knew. She herself stood and moved to stand with Krista. She focused on the clone with Gabby, in case there were instructions from that quarter.

She was less scary than the man she appeared with. For lots of reasons.

[aquawayfinder]

Aqua stood, ready, when they arrived, she summoned her Keyblade and awaited directions, keeping an eye over the students, ready to move.

[totallystoned]

Reki chuckled. The last time she'd seen him was...Christmas, six years ago? One year ago for her, of course. She remembered distinctly giving him a lamp with Hieronymous Bosch printed on the cover.

"It's been a while."

[niepokonany]

"Not murdered so far," Feliks replied, with perhaps a little more cheer than the content of the sentence warranted. There was a face he hadn't seen in a while! He sort of felt like a teenager again, looking at him.

"Kinda hoping to keep it that way, too? Y'know, if that's like, a thing we can do or whatever."

INFILTRATING THE PALACE

[astonishing_xmods]

In a design choice that surprised no one, the Central Palace of Genosha, the seat of the executive government and home of the ruling House of Magnus, was almost entirely metalic in nature. The halls were echoing chambers extending ever upward, putting the sound dampening device Yamabiko had designed for them to the definite test. No Girl did her best from the ship to keep the surveillance cameras from finding them, as well. They were practically invisible, heading closer and closer to the inner chambers of the Palace...

But it was impossible not to notice something that felt very wrong about the place. It was dark, and astoundingly quiet. The Palace seemed deserted. No Acoloyte Guards, no government workers, not even a janitorial staff. The place was empty and silent except for their own footsteps.

Just what the hell was going on?

[[ There is no tagging order for this thread. Simple tag in as you please, but try to keep things to one thread if you can. The mod account will chime in as things start to happen ]]

[long_live_the_queen]

Crane her head upwards as much as she liked, Kaede still only saw endless steel and shadows. The sound of their progress died out into muffled silence almost before it left their feet.

And there should have been people. Voices, minds, ruffling papers, scurrying secretaries, something. The emptiness had set Kaede on edge since they first set foot there, and continued to do so. Her shoulders had set into a tense, slouched line, and hadn't relaxed since.

The horned mutant had wandered towards the front of the group, vectors stretched as far as they could reach in front of her. Kaede needed no light to find her way around, two meters at a time. Her telekinetic net had been cast in a wide, diffuse spread, searching for any mind-colors that weren't by now familiar to her. The new colors of the unfamiliar woman and the red-blue of the...dove-man she hadn't exactly memorized, but they hadn't left her range long enough to notice.

Where was everyone else?

[droppedbucket]

Kisume wasn't that far off, as she wasn't sure about the entire thing. Her small form was tense and alert to any thing that would seem out of place. Her mind kept wandering back to those who were back at school briefly, hoping everyone was alright and hoping she'd see them again..but then shook her head. Not the time nor the place.

Even though she wanted to sneak ahead to scout it out so to say..but something told her to stay close, not cause more trouble then she needed. The trouble would find them when it was time.